Global Public Health (MPH) with concentrations in Precision Public Health and Global Public Health Policy and Management

The Master of Global Public Health (MPH) program provides postgraduate education to prepare students for a career in several essential and innovative areas of interdisciplinary specialization through a sound foundation in the biomedical, engineering, and data sciences. The MPH program also recognizes the need for the practitioner to be cognizant of the social, behavioral, policy, and regulatory dimensions of public health in the regional and global context of today’s world. This program, through its implementation science and engineering perspective, will prepare practitioners with a mission of innovation, implementation, education, and service as global citizens committed to health, disease identification, mitigation, and prevention. This is essential to meet global public health workforce needs in our region.

Program Goals and Objectives

The mission of the MPH is to prepare graduates to advance the public’s health through education, health promotion, and the improvement of health outcomes of populations and individuals domestically and globally by fostering the critical thinking, leadership, and decision-making of a knowledgeable workforce and scholars.

Core Values on which the programs are based

• Excellence in pedagogy and mentorship of students;
• Excellence in recruitment of the highest quality faculty, staff, and students;
• Engagement in interdisciplinary education on campus, in the community, and the region;
• Integrity, with mutual respect and consideration of cultural differences, religious and socioeconomic status;
• Inclusivity, through the recognition of the uniqueness of individuals, domestically and globally;
• Creating an environment that nurtures and fosters dialogues across the campus, community, and globe;
• Empowerment of global citizens, women and men, and communities to make a difference in transforming challenges into opportunities.

The curriculum was developed with the following program goals guiding its development:

1. Implement a competency-based curriculum and systematic assessment to ensure that graduates are prepared with the knowledge, values, and skills to assume leadership roles in global public health as researchers and practitioners
2. Integrate experiential inter-professional teamwork with social and global perspectives into coursework, fieldwork, and thesis projects designed to foster the development of core public health competencies and a commitment to achieving health equity in community service in diverse communities
3. Link public health research and practice by engaging faculty, students, public health and medical professionals, and the community in conducting public health scholarly projects and applied research designed to advance the field and practice.
4. Establish a synergy between disciplines with a focus on translation, implementation, and assessment outside the classroom.
5. Foster a holistic approach that respects the individual, the public, the global community, and the environment to ensure sustainability, responsibility, and accountability.

Learning Outcomes

The following outcomes for the Programs in Global Public Health are based on the recommendations of the CePH, the accrediting body for Public Health. They also reflect the core public health competencies identified by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH).

Global PH Program Outcomes

Upon completion of the MPH, graduates will be prepared to:

1. Understand the relationship between environmental, social and cultural factors as well as biological determinants, and community health; discuss solution for health problems through an understanding of the holistic precision health concept.
2. Critically analyze research evidence and relevant data (identify and apply appropriate statistical methods) to determine health care trends, best practices, and develop appropriate public health interventions.
3. Manage public health projects through assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation and sustainability to realize best practices.
4. Communicate effectively and efficiently to  leverage public health awareness.
5. Assess how moral and ethical values influence decision making, policy development, and health outcomes in diverse populations conditions.
6. Examine the application of community based participatory research (CBPR) principles in public health programs and projects in various settings.

A distinguishing feature of the proposed MPH. The Precision Public Health concentration elucidates our commitment to providing our students training in an emerging, cutting-edge, and growing area of expertise. US National Institute of Health [NIH (2017)] is promoting the initiative into Precision Public Health by initiating the “All of Us” research program to use new technology to create some of the largest and most diverse longitudinal cohorts in history. The Dean of Stanford School of Medicine, Dr. Minor (2016), highlighted the importance of fostering Precision Public Health as a way to promote new integrations between health and other fields, such as engineering, computer science, and business innovation, to achieve our biggest common end: making people healthy. Precision Public Health, as interpreted in the proposed programs, brings together strengths in targeted delivery of nanoformulation (drugs, genes) with the personalized medical approaches of biomarker diagnostics, pharmaco- and toxicogenomics, and gene-environment interactions. It also takes a holistic systems approach of the “omics” disciplines (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics), internal environment (e.g., microbiome), and external environment in identifying risk and intervention in nervous system disorders and mental well-being. It is based on an appreciation of individual differences that impact intervention and therapy. These programs, built on engagement, are also intimately keyed into the need for interpretation of risk to the public through health communication. Health communication is essential to motivate healthy behavior and reduce health risks and the burden of disease in communities, as well as at institutions and agencies throughout the nation and region, including the Ministry of Health and Population, the World Health Organization, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and governorate and local health departments, as well as the media.

Students

Students who may be interested in the MPH degree are students with a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 in their major or higher, including 1) Current AUC students of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math, and Actuarial Sciences, Engineering disciplines, Business, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and from majors with concentrations in the environment, behavior, management, policy and management; 2) Students from other academic institutions with a wide range of backgrounds who are interested in expanding their career options in public health particularly current employees from local Departments and Ministries of Health and health agencies such as hospitals, physicians, pharmacists, dentists, veterinarians, nurses, safety engineers, agricultural engineers and chemists. The MPH is one of the most sought-after graduate degrees by MDs, who account for 15-20% of graduates from PH programs. and 3) current employees such as professionals working in hospitals, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, sustainability, and other areas seeking to improve their skills and be eligible for a wider range of career options.

Degree Requirements

Admission

A Bachelor’s degree in the sciences, medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, nursing, or engineering, with a minimum GPA of 3.0 out of 4.0 or equivalent, is required for admission into the MPH program. Students with backgrounds in the social and behavioral sciences, policy, management, and business can be admitted into selected tracks but are subject to the core curriculum. Admission is also subject to the general university requirements for graduate programs. For those students whose grade records indicate promising ability but who otherwise may lack adequate preparation in sciences, biomedicine, or engineering, admission may be granted under the requirement that additional probationary courses will be taken.

Program Objectives

The objectives of the Master of Public Health (MPH) are:

• Train students to function with competency in the general five pillars of public health (Social & Behavioral Sciences, Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Environmental Health, and Health Policy and Management) as well as other functional competency areas identified by the Council on Education for Public Health (CePH).
• Prepare and enable students to collaborate with communities and community-based health care professionals on public health initiatives.
• Empower students to assume leadership roles in public health (specific to tracks) and in organizations and coalitions that advance public health.
• Prepare and enable students to manage public health projects through assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation and sustainability to realize best practices.

Depending on the specific track, a minimum of 42 credit hours is required for the MPH, as defined by CePH and ASPPH. This consists of 24 credit hours of core courses, inclusive of 9 credits of research seminar and thesis research, and an additional 18 credit hours of coursework in a given track.

Advisors, Advisory Committee, and Study Plan for MPH

During  SCI 5940 - Graduate Thesis Seminar (3 cr.) , for the MPH students, this is the second full semester, the student will have identified a track and focus of interest. In discussion with faculty and the Program Director, a primary Research Advisor will be identified. A preliminary research proposal draft will be developed during  SCI 5940 - Graduate Thesis Seminar (3 cr.) . The student, together with the Research Advisor, will develop a study and research plan for the remaining year. This must be done promptly to ensure the scheduling of appropriate coursework and ensure student success.

Concentrations

The courses of the core and electives were selected or developed to reflect the themes supported by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) (2012) Framing the Future: The Second 100 Years of Education for Public Health”, the WHO Eastern Mediterranean priority of Human Resources for Health (http://www.who.int/alliance-hpsr/projects/middleeast-polforum/en/), and emerging challenges in Public Health, regionally and globally. These include non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular, diabetes, obesity, malnutrition, congenital defects, mental and neurodegenerative disorders), early detection, surveillance, and intervention (Precision Health) [The State of Health in the Arab World, 1990-2010: An Analysis of the Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors. (2014). The Lancet, 383:309-320]. This document outlines the knowledge, skills, and outcomes expected in Public Health programs.

These concentrations are:

•  Precision Public Health;
•  Global Public Health Policy and Management